"‘Do You like being a minister?’
The Rev. Paul Ford looked up now, very quickly.
‘Do I like—Why, what an odd question! Why do you ask that, my dear?’
‘Nothing—only the way you looked. It made me think of my father. He used to look like that—sometimes.’
‘Did he?’ The minister’s voice was polite, but his eyes had gone back to the dried leaf on the ground.
‘Yes, and I used to ask him just as I did you if he was glad he was a minister.’
The man under the tree smiled a little sadly.
‘Well—what did he say?’
‘Oh, he always said he was, of course, but ‘most always he said, too, that he wouldn’t STAY a minister a minute if ‘twasn’t for the rejoicing texts.’
‘The—WHAT?’ The Rev. Paul Ford’s eyes left the leaf and gazed wonderingly into Pollyanna’s merry little face.
‘Well, that’s what father used to call ‘em,’ she laughed. ‘Of course the Bible didn’t name ‘em that. But it’s all those that begin ‘Be glad in the Lord,’ or ‘Rejoice greatly,’ or ‘Shout for joy,’ and all that, you know—such a lot of ‘em. Once, when father felt specially bad, he counted ‘em. There were eight hundred of ‘em.’
‘Eight hundred!’
‘Yes—that told you to rejoice and be glad, you know; that’s why father named ‘em the ‘rejoicing texts.’ ‘
‘Oh!’ There was an odd look on the minister’s face. His eyes had fallen to the words on the top paper in his hands—
‘But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ ‘And so your father—liked those ‘rejoicing texts,’ ‘ he murmured.
‘Oh, yes,’ nodded Pollyanna, emphatically. ‘He said he felt better right away, that first day he thought to count ‘em. He said if God took the trouble to tell us eight hundred times to be glad and rejoice, He must want us to do it—SOME. And father felt ashamed that he hadn’t done it more.(...)

(...)‘What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened….
Instead of always harping on a man’s faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits.
Hold up to him his better self, his REAL self that can dare and do and win out! … The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a man feels kindly and obliging, his neighbors will feel that way, too, before long. But if he scolds and scowls and criticizes—his neighbors will return scowl for scowl, and add interest! … When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good—you will get that…."


From the book Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter








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